The Cattle Health Handbook The Cattle Health Handbook Preventive care, Disease Treatments & Emergency Procedures for Promoting the Well-Being of Your Beef or Dairy Herd HEATHER SMITH THOMAS The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by publishing practical information that encourages personal independence in harmony with the environment. Edited by Rebekah Boyd-Owens, Sarah Guare, and Deborah Burns Art direction and book design by Dan O. Williams Text production by Liseann Karandisecky and Ponderosa Pine Design Front cover and spine photographs by © Lynn Stone. Author’s photograph by Andrea Hansen Interior photographs by the author, except for © Lynn Stone, page ii; © Matt Pound, page 158; courtesy of Dr. Dan Casteel, University of Missouri, page 202 top; courtesy of Dr. Marlin Rice, Iowa State University, page 299 Illustrations by © Elara Tanguy Additional maps and infographics by Ilona Sherratt Indexed by Christine R. Lindemer, Boston Road Communications © 2009 by Heather Smith Thomas All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages or reproduce illustrations in a review with appropriate credits; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other – without written permission from the publisher. The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the author or Storey Publishing. The author and publisher disclaim any liability in connection with the use of this information. For additional information, please contact Storey Publishing, 210 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams, MA 01247. Storey books are available for special premium and promotional uses and for customized editions. For further information, please call 1-800-793-9396. Printed in the United States by Versa Press 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Thomas, Heather Smith, 1944– The cattle health handbook / by Heather Smith Thomas. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-1-60342-090-7 (pbk.: alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-60342-095-2 (hardcover: alk. paper) 1. Cattle–Health–Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Cattle–Diseases–Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title. SF961.T46 2009 636.2'089–dc22 2009001484 DEDICATION This book is dedicated to all my cattle – every individual animal I’ve been privileged to know, starting with my very first cow in 1956 when I was 12 years old. She was a pregnant Hereford heifer in the first group of cows my father purchased after our family bought a small ranch. I named my heifer Bovina and earned her purchase price by working summers for my father, irrigating the fields, digging postholes, and helping to build fences. I kept all of Bovina’s heifer calves and their babies (selling only the steers) and had a small herd of cows by the time I went to college. Later my husband Lynn and I had a dairy for a short time and then began raising beef cattle. Even after raising more than 6,000 calves and watching many of them grow up to be cows, I remember most of them (and their names)! Each one was a unique character; some had very endearing attributes, and others had not-so-endearing traits. My cattle have been my passion, my addiction, my lifework. Learning how to care for them properly and how to deal with the problems that occasionally arose led me to share that knowledge with others, writing articles for livestock publications and then books about raising cattle. My cows taught me many lessons in life, not only in animal husbandry but also in larger matters regarding things like patience, courage, endurance, determination, and persistence, for it’s not always easy to care for them in harsh weather or to save one that suffers from a challenging disease. I am grateful to my cattle for helping to forge the person I’ve become. Contents Preface Acknowledgments Introduction PART I: Health Management 1. Preventive Care Disease Resistance Immunity • Prevention Practices • Minimizing Stress 2. Treatment Fundamentals Detecting Signs of Illness • Treating Sick Animals • Giving Injections • Oral Medications and Fluid Therapy • Restraints 3. Seasonal Health Hot-Weather Problems • Cold-Weather Problems PART II: Common Diseases 4. Bacterial Diseases Brucellosis • Leptospirosis • Campylobacteriosis • Anthrax • Clostridial Diseases • E. Coli • Navel Ill and Joint Ill • Salmonella • Tuberculosis • Johne’s Disease • Listeriosis • Thromboembolic Meningoencephalitis (TEME) 5. Viral Diseases Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR) • Parainfluenza 3 (PI3) Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus (BRSV) • Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD) Bluetongue • Bovine Leukemia • Rabies • Viral Diarrhea in Calves 6. Protozoal Diseases Coccidiosis • Cryptosporidiosis • Sarcocystosis • Neosporosis • Trichomoniasis 7. Parasites Internal Parasites • External Parasites PART III: Body System Disorders 8. Digestive Problems Normal Digestion • Acidosis • Bloat • Impaction • Hardware Disease • Digestive Tract Blockage • Ulcers • Choking • Calf Scours • Use of Probiotics 9. Eye Problems Eye Injuries • Pinkeye • Foreign Material in Eye • Cancer Eye 10. Skin Problems Hair Loss and Bald Spots • Photosensitization • Allergies • Warts Ringworm • Sunburn 11. Respiratory Problems Upper Respiratory Challenges • Pneumonia • Shipping Fever • Emphysema 12. Foot Problems Foot Rot • Heel Warts • Sole Abscesses • Puncture Wounds • Laminitis • Stress Can Cause Foot Problems • Hoof Cracks • Fescue Foot • Preventing Foot Problems 13. Mouth Problems Lump Jaw • Bony Lump Jaw • Wooden Tongue • Mouth and Th roat Lesions Tooth Loss • Choking 14. Metabolic Problems Milk Fever • Grass Tetany • Phosphorus Deficiency • Ketosis • Brisket Disease 15. Udder Problems Teat Injuries • Chapped Teats • Winter Teat-End Lesions • Frostbite • Mastitis Udder Edema • Pseudocowpox • Teat Warts PART IV: Other Ailments, Accidents, and Injuries 16. Mineral and Nutritional Problems Selenium-Related Illness • Copper Deficiency • Iodine Deficiency • Calcium Deficiency • Phosphorus Deficiency • Vitamin A Deficiency • Thiamine Deficiency Importance of Salt • Urinary Stones • Water Requirements of Cattle 17. Poisoning Poisonous Plants • Weeds in Harvested Hay • Blister Beetles • Hydrocyanic Acid Nitrates • Pesticides and Chemicals • Lead 18. Accidents, Injuries, and Wounds Porcupine Quills • Snakebite • Fallen Cows • Broken Bones • Junk Hazards Getting Stuck • Hoof Injuries • Facial Paralysis • Hernia • Dehorning Complications Wounds • Digestive Tract Injuries • Back Injuries • Hind Leg Paralysis • Burns Lightning • Frostbite 19. Miscellaneous Diseases Cancer • Mycoplasma Bovis • Vesicular Stomatitis • Foot-and-Mouth Disease Mad Cow Disease Epilogue Appendixes Determining the Age of Cattle by Teeth Disease Characteristics Anatomy of the Cow Reproductive Tract of a Bull Illnesses Passed from Cattle to Humans Glossary Resources Index Preface My husband and I both grew up on ranches raising cattle, and together we’ve been taking care of cattle for more than 40 years. After our wedding in March 1966, we went home to his dairy in southern Idaho to milk the cows — you can’t explain time off for a honeymoon to a dairy cow. Lynn had a small dairy herd, as it was easier then for a young person to obtain financing for renting a farm and buying dairy cows than to try to start up a beef-cattle ranch. Our experiences with dairy cows and their calves augmented our youthful knowledge about caring for cattle and keeping them healthy. At the end of that year we sold the dairy cows, moved back to our mountainous country roots near Salmon, Idaho, and started our own cattle ranch. It was tough trying to make a living and pay for a ranch and cattle on what can only be called marginal land. We have many acres, and it’s beautiful country, but it’s steep, rugged, high-desert rangeland with very little rainfall and only a few acres that can be irrigated to grow hay for winter feed. But we were persistent. We struggled hard to make it work, developing a hardy, unpampered herd of crossbred cattle that thrive in harsh conditions. Part of our financial survival depended on not losing any animals; we couldn’t afford to lose any. We learned all we could about taking good care of the cattle, and early on we became excellent “cattle doctors,” because each animal had to be healthy and producing or fit to sell in the fall. But we also love our animals. Each one is a unique personality — even after our herd expanded to 185 cows, every cow and calf had a name! If one of them was injured or sick, we were diligent in our efforts to treat him and correct the problem. We are poor losers; there’s nothing we hated more than losing an animal — partly because we could not afford the financial loss but also because each was a cherished character. Learning everything we could from each adverse situation and medical case that needed treatment or intensive care, we became excellent cattle caretakers. Over the years, we learned from our local veterinarians and other ranchers and, for unusual cases, sometimes even picked the brains of university veterinary specialists. But our cattle taught us the most. In my research as a freelance writer, I interviewed many veterinarians and professors for articles that appeared in horse and cattle publications. I’ve written more than 7,000 magazine articles and now write regularly for about 60 horse, farm, and livestock publications. For 30 years I’ve written a regular column on ranch life for a Canadian farming newspaper. Much of what I write deals with